By Alexander Villafania
MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA – It was dark for an hour last Saturday but Filipinos were nonetheless feverishly raving about Earth Hour on the Web while the lights were off.
Only some parts of Metro Manila went dark. In Makati City, Ayala Malls turned off some of its outside lights and nearly all of the street lamps along Ayala Avenue were turned off.
People who attended Earth Hour parties set up all over the city were counting down towards 8:30p.m. via Twitter, providing updates before, during and after the event.
Actress Bianca Gonzales, for example, sent a tweet wishing that restaurants in the city could support Earth Hour. Alessandra De Rossi tweeted “patay na po ang mga ilaw (the lights are off”.
The blogosphere was also active with personal accounts of what people were doing during Earth Hour. Kutitots blogged that she was all alone at home while her family went on their separate activities for that night. She unplugged most of her appliances and lit a candle. For her, “some effort is better than none at all.”
Engineer X did an experiment wherein he checked how much he saved during the Earth Hour. He even went to the extent of using a formula to measure the cost savings of the experiment. Comparing it to his costs when his appliances are active, he said he only saved P2 to P3 during the hour.
Nevertheless, he defended Earth Hour stating that its purpose is not to save money but to make a statement that individuals are willing to share in saving the world.
The global Earth Hour started in 2007 of which the Philippines has been consistently participating in. Recently, the Philippines is said to have been the biggest success for this year’s event, according to Climate Change Commissioner and Earth Hour National Director Yeb Saño. Over 15 million people from 1,076 municipalities joined the event, turning off their electricity for an hour.
Saño also stressed that Earth Hour does not only happen once a year. Instead, it should happen regularly and in people’s homes and workplaces. With so much of the world’s resources being depleted, it is indeed the responsibility of each person to share in saving the world, even in the smallest way.
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